"
"It is true, sir," said Harry. "My father loves the land. After his
retirement from the army, following the Mexican war, he worked harder
upon our place in Kentucky than any slave or hired man. He was going
to free his slaves, but I suppose, sir, that the war has made him feel
different about it."
"Yes, we're often willing to do things by our own free will, but not
under compulsion. The great Washington himself wrote of the evils of
slave labor. The 'old fields' scattered all over Virginia show what it
has done for this noble commonwealth."
Harry remembered quite well similar "old fields" in Kentucky. Slaves
were far less numerous there than in Virginia, and he was old enough to
have observed that, in addition to the wrong of slavery, they were a
liability rather than an asset. But he too felt anew the instinctive
rebellion against being compelled to do what he would perhaps do anyhow.
General Lee talked more of the land and Harry and Dalton listened
respectfully. Harry saw that his commander's heart turned strongly
toward it. He knew that Jefferson had dreamed of the United States as an
agricultural community, having no part in the quarrels of other nations,
but he knew that it was only a dream.
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